Klesta
Klesta is a Crushatrice in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. Klesta is the first enemy encountered in the game and a recurring enemy of the Clan Gully in a series of sidequests involving House Bowen and is their sworn enemy. Profile Personality Klesta was a particularly vicious and aggressive member of its species and an infamous Mark with a penchant for violence. Klesta enjoyed using its weight and size to crush its enemies. Fairly intelligent and somewhat provocative, Klesta had a penchant for flying away when a battle turned dangerous, escaping defeat many times, something that particularly poured salt into the wound of House Bowen for a long time. Klesta was known to be extremely dangerous when injured, becoming farm more aggressive and deadly. Story Klesta was a well known and dangerous monster in Jylland, where its viciousness earned it a Mark. Although several clans attempted to bring it down, its habit of flying away upon facing danger left all the attempts unsuccessful. Klesta was fairly resilient and persistent and could recover its wounds quickly and resume its rampage. While many clans failed in felling it, House Bowen faced it and became the closest to beating it. Its leader Bowen, sent his wife Swordmaiden Friese after the beast to finish it off, taking victory for granted. This proved a fatal mistake as the injured monster was far more violent in its current state and fighting for its life, brutally murdered the Swordmaiden in retaliation. The event changing Bowen to be far more cautious in battles, and left the clan and specially him with a deep hatred of the monster, bowing to finish it off. They then pursued the monster relentlessly but were unsuccessful in defeating it. Eventually Clan Gully encounters the monster, although Cid complains the pay was small for what was requested, and prepares to face the monster with his crew. However Luso Clemens arrives into the battlefield from his world, surprising everybody, and with Klesta next to the stranded boy. Cid offers a distraught Luso an invitation into the clan to keep him safe, which the boy reluctantly agrees knowing Klesta will devour him. Luso then joins the clan by swearing an oath to the Judge becoming a Soldier and joining in the first battle of the game. They fight and force Klesta to retreat. Klesta is not encountered until much later, when Clan Gully joins with House Bowen in hunting the beast together. The two clans are able to work together well and weaken the Crushatrice forcing it into retreat. Luso attempts to go after it, but Bowen warns him otherwise, now wanting the boy to suffer the same fate as his deceased wife. Tweigel, the second in command of House Bowen, tells to Luso that Bowen was right and hints at House Bowen's past. After the battle, Klesta quickly recovers from its injuries and ambushes Clan Gully. Although taken with their guard down, House Bowen appears with their leader having feared the Crushatrice would seek revenge, aiding Clan Gully. The two clans once more fend the beast off, before it flies for its life. After the battle, Tweigel, shares with Luso their past with Klesta and the death of their comrade, Friese. Cid tells Luso of how fabled she was alive, with the revelation leaving them cold. Eventually Bowen hungry for revenge, rushes to hunt his sworn enemy alone. Tweigel requests help from Clan Gully to battle the monster, and asks of them to bring a Cloudy Sap, knowing it will be fundamental in the upcoming battle. In the mission "Showdown", Clan Gully encounters Bowen facing the vicious Crushatrice alone desperate to get his revenge. Clan Gully attempts to help, and Bowen noticed their presence, the moment of distraction being enough for Klesta to strike him, leaving the Fighter weakened. Eventually the rest of House Bowen appear and berate Bowen for going alone after their enemy. House Bowen reaffirms their bounds with each other and swear to follow Bowen even to the depths of the Underworld. Renewed with reason and the support of his crew, Bowen stands up and rises to face his longtime enemy in a final battle, coincidentally in the same place where it was first encountered by Clan Gully, in Targ Wood. The two clans face the monster, more powerful than in their previous encounters, but eventually manage to wear it down enough to force it to flee, Bowen feeling frustrated that the cycle repeats itself. However, Tweigel having forseen this, has Clan Gully throw the requested Cloudy Sap on Klesta, the substance depriving it of its ability to fly and forcing it into land. Finally with their chance at victory at hand, Bowen commands everybody to launch a full-assault attack on the monster. The beast unable to escape is forced to fight for its life with every ounce of its might. However the joint force of both clans proves too much for the monster, and is eventually defeated after a long battle, ending its reign of terror and with Bowen being able to settle the score with its longtime foe, achieving revenge for his dead wife. The two Clans celebrate their victory, with Bowen learning that Tweigel had revealed to Clan Gully their history, and Bowen mockingly reprimands his friend for having a loose tongue, which Tweigel agrees with. The two clans leave on friendly terms with Tweigel rewarding Clan Gully for their help. Gameplay Klesta is encountered several times on the game. Klesta is the first boss and battle of the game, having almost 300 HP when encountered, making it a relatively difficult battle. Its Territorial Marking attack can hit for a couple tens of damage, close to 60-70 in Hard Mode and is accompanied by two Cockatrices. These small monsters should be given priority as they can be annoying to deal along Klesta. Cid will act alone as a Guest, but its Body Slam attack can deal large damage to Klesta, and has bulk to resist for some time. The best way to handle Klesta is to keep the units as spread as possible in order to avoid Territorial Marking from damaging too many of them at once since the Mark is fast and can attack quickly. After the first battle, Klesta uses Peck, Devour and Absorb Damage in order to increase its survivablility to about 10% more. However in these encounters, Klesta is faced along House Bowen, which have hard hitters on their own, making the battle more manageable. Bowen and Tweigel cannot die in these encounters although Tweigel will become fundamentally useless at lower HP since it depends on its HP value to casts his Spells due to Blood Price. The player is likely to be better equipped and with more developed jobs such as Fighter or Paladin in these future encounters, thus improving the offense and defense. In the last battle, Klesta is close to 1,000 HP (more with Absorb Damage) and incorporates Piston Drop which hits all units on the map for massive damage. Although potent, this skill however, can backfire heavily on Klesta. If the player, along House Bowen place as many units as possible next to the Mark while equipped with the Counter Reaction Ability, Piston Drop will trigger for each unit, culminating in a potentially long chain of Counters that can easily tear apart its large HP in a matter of seconds.